Smilax is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families They are climbing flowering plants, many of which are woody and/or thorny, in the monocotyledon family Smilacaceae, native throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Common names include catbriers, greenbriers, prickly-ivys and smilaxes. Sarsaparilla (also zarzaparrilla, sarsparilla) is a name used specifically for the Neotropical S. ornata as well as a catch-all term in particular for American species. Occasionally, the non-woody species such as the smooth herbaceous greenbrier (S. herbacea) are separated as genus Nemexia; they are commonly known by the rather ambiguous name carrion flowers.
Greenbriers get their scientific name from the Greek myth of Crocus and the nymph Smilax.Mifsud (2002) Though this myth has numerous forms, it always centers around the unfulfilled and tragic love of a mortal man who is turned into a flower, and a woodland nymph who is transformed into a brambly vine.
Description
On their own, Smilax plants will grow as shrubs, forming dense impenetrable thickets. They will also grow over trees and other plants up to 10 m high, their hooked thorns allowing them to hang onto and scramble over branches. The genus includes both deciduous and evergreen species. The leaves are heart shaped and vary from 4–30 cm long in different species.
Greenbrier is dioecious. However, only about one in three colonies have plants of both sexes. Plants flower in May and June with white–green clustered flowers. If pollination occurs, the plant will produce a bright red to blue-black spherical berry fruit about 5–10 mm in diameter that matures in the fall (autumn).
Extrafloral nectaries have been reported on the apex and lower side of the leaf of S. bracteata.
Taxonomy
The genus has traditionally been considered as divided into a number of sections, but molecular phylogenetic studies reveals that these morphologically defined subdivisions are not monophyletic. Subdivision is best considered in terms of clades (A–D), corresponding to biogeography, with the main divisions being Old World (clades C, D) and New World (clade B) with the exception of S. aspera, that appears to be sister to all other species (clade A) and has a tri-continental disjunction.
Section Smilax includes "woody", prickly vines of temperate North America, for example cat greenbrier (S. glauca) and common greenbrier (S. rotundifolia).FNAEC (2002) Section Nemexia includes unarmed herbaceous plants of temperate North America, for example "carrion flowers" like the smooth herbaceous greenbrier (S. herbacea). Section Heterosmilax represents a previous separate genus that was found to be embedded within Smilax, and was reduced to a section within it.
List of selected species
Smilax aberrans Gagnep. Smilax aculeatissima Conran Smilax amblyobasis K.Krause Smilax ampla Warb. ex K.Krause Smilax anceps Willd. Smilax anguina K.Krause Smilax annulata Warb. ex K.Krause Smilax aquifolium Ferrufino & Greuter Smilax arisanensis Hayata Smilax aristolochiifolia Mill. – American sarsaparilla Smilax aspera L. – Mediterranean smilax, common smilax, rough smilax Smilax aspericaulisWall. ex A.DC. Smilax assumptionis A.DC. Smilax astrosperma F.T.Wang & Tang Smilax auriculata Walter Smilax australis R.Br. – lawyer vine, barbwire vine, wait-a-while (Australia) Smilax azorica H.Schaef. & P.Schönfelder Smilax bapouensis H.Li Smilax basilata F.T.Wang & Tang Smilax bauhinioides Kunth Smilax bella J.F.Macbr. Smilax biflora Siebold ex Miq. Smilax biltmoreana (Small) J.B.Norton ex Pennell Smilax biumbellata T.Koyama Smilax blumei A.DC. Smilax bockii Warb. Smilax bona-nox L. – saw greenbrier Smilax borneensis A.DC. Smilax bracteata Presl Smilax brasiliensis Sprengel. Smilax californica (A.DC.) A.Gray Smilax calophylla Wall. ex A.DC. Smilax cambodiana Gagnep. Smilax campestris Griseb. Smilax canariensis Willd. Smilax canellifolia Mill. Smilax celebica Blume Smilax chapaensis Gagnep. Smilax china L. Smilax chingii F.T. Wang & Ts.Tang Smilax cinnamomea Desf. ex A.DC. Smilax cissoides M.Martens & Galeotti Smilax cocculoides Warb. Smilax cognata Kunth Smilax compta (Killip & C.V.Morton) Ferrufino Smilax corbularia Kunth Smilax cordato-ovata Rich. Smilax cordifolia Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. Smilax coriacea Spreng. Smilax cristalensis Ferrufino & Greuter Smilax cuprea Ferrufino & Greuter Smilax cuspidata Duhamel Smilax cyclophylla Warb. Smilax darrisii H.Lév. Smilax davidiana A.DC. Smilax densibarbata F.T.Wang & Tang Smilax discotis Warb. Smilax domingensis Willd. Smilax ecirrhata (Engelm. ex Kunth) S.Wats. Smilax elastica Griseb. Smilax elegans Wall. Smilax elegantissima Gagnep. Smilax elmeri Merr. Smilax elongatoumbellata Hayata Smilax emeiensis J.M.Xu Smilax erecta Merr. Smilax excelsa L. Smilax extensa A.DC. Smilax ferox Wall. ex Kunth Smilax flavicaulis Rusby Smilax fluminensis Steud. Smilax fooningensis F.T.Wang & Tang Smilax gagnepainii T.Koyama Smilax gigantea Merr. Smilax gigantocarpa Koord. Smilax glabra Roxb. – chinaroot, () Smilax glauca Walter – cat greenbrier, glaucous greenbrier Smilax glaucochina Warb. Smilax glyciphylla Sm. – sweet sarsaparilla, native sarsaparilla (Australia) Smilax goyazana A.DC. Smilax gracilior Ferrufino & Greuter Smilax griffithii A.DC. Smilax guianensis Vitman Smilax guiyangensis C.X.Fu & C.D.Shen Smilax havanensis Jacq. Smilax hayatae T.Koyama Smilax hemsleyana Craib. Smilax herbacea L. – smooth herbaceous greenbrier, carrion flower (southern Quebec in Canada, Eastern United States) Smilax hilariana A.DC. Smilax horridiramula Hayata Smilax hugeri (Small) J.B.Norton ex Pennell Smilax hypoglauca Benth. Smilax ilicifolia Desv. ex Ham. Smilax illinoensis Mangaly – Illinois greenbrier Smilax indosinica T.Koyama Smilax inversa T.Koyama Smilax irrorata Mart. ex Griseb. Smilax jamesii G.Wallace Smilax japicanga Griseb. Smilax javensis A.DC. Smilax kaniensis K.Krause Smilax keyensis Warb. ex K.Krause Smilax kingii Hook.f. Smilax klotzschii Kunth Smilax korthalsii A.DC. Smilax kwangsiensis F.T.Wang & Tang Smilax lanceifolia Roxb. Smilax lappacea Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. Smilax larvata Griseb. Smilax lasioneura Hook. – herbaceous greenbrier Smilax lasseriana Steyerm. Smilax laurifolia L. Smilax lebrunii H.Lév. Smilax leucophylla Blume Smilax ligneoriparia C.X.Fu & P.Li Smilax ligustrifolia A.DC. Smilax loheri Merr Smilax longifolia Rich. Smilax lucidaMerr. Smilax luei T.Koyama Smilax lunglingensis F.T.Wang & Tang Smilax lushuiensis S.C.Chen Smilax lutescens Vell. Smilax luzonensis Presl Smilax macrocarpa Blume Smilax magnifolia J.F.Macbr. Smilax mairei Lev. Smilax malipoensis S.C.Chen Smilax maritima Feay ex Alph.Wood Smilax maypurensis Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. Smilax megacarpa A.DC. Smilax megalantha C.H.Wright Smilax melanocarpa Ridl. Smilax melastomifolia Sm. – hoi kuahiwi (Hawaii) Smilax menispermoidea A.DC. Smilax microchina T.Koyama Smilax microphylla C.H.Wright Smilax minarum A.DC. Smilax minutiflora A.DC. Smilax modesta A.DC. Smilax mollis Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. Smilax moranensis Mart. & Galeotti Smilax munita S.C.Chen Smilax muscosa Toledo Smilax myosotiflora A.DC. Smilax myrtillus A.DC. Smilax nageliana A.DC. Smilax nana F.T.Wang Smilax nantoensis T.Koyama Smilax neocaledonica Schltr Smilax nervomarginata Hayata Smilax nigrescens F.T.Wang & Tang Smilax nipponica Miq. Smilax nova-guineensis T.Koyama Smilax obliquata Duhamel Smilax oblongata Sw. Smilax ocreata DC. Smilax odoratissima Blume Smilax officinalis Kunth Smilax orbiculata Labill. Smilax ornata Lem. Smilax orthoptera A.DC. Smilax outanscianensis Pamp. Smilax ovalifolia Roxb. Smilax ovatolanceolata T.Koyama Smilax pachysandroides T.Koyama Smilax paniculata M.Martens & Galeotti Smilax papuana Lauterb. Smilax perfoliata Lour. Smilax petelotii T.Koyama Smilax pilcomayensis Guagl. & S.Gattuso Smilax pilosa Andreata & Leoni Smilax pinfaensis H.Lév. & Vaniot Smilax plurifurcata A.DC. Smilax poilanei Gagnep. Smilax polyacantha Wall. ex Kunth Smilax polycolea Warb. Smilax populnea Kunth Smilax pottingeri Prain Smilax pseudochina L. – false chinaroot Smilax pulverulenta Michx. Smilax pumila Walter Smilax purhampuy Ruiz Smilax purpurata G.Forst. Smilax pygmaea Merr. Smilax quadrata A.DC. Smilax quadrumbellata T.Koyama Smilax quinquenervia Vell. Smilax remotinervis Hand.-Mazz. Smilax retroflexa (F.T.Wang & Tang) S.C.Chen Smilax riparia A.DC. Smilax rotundifolia L. – common greenbrier (Eastern United States) Smilax rubromarginata K.Krause Smilax rufescens Griseb. Smilax ruiziana Kunth Smilax salicifolia Griseb. Smilax sanguinea Posada-Ar. Smilax santaremensis A.DC. Smilax saulensis J.D.Mitch. Smilax schomburgkiana Kunth Smilax scobinicaulis C.H.Wright Smilax sebeana Miq. Smilax setiramula F.T.Wang & Tang Smilax setosa Miq. Smilax sieboldii Miq. Smilax sinclairii T.Koyama Smilax siphilitica Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. Smilax solanifolia A.DC. Smilax spicata Vell. Smilax spinosa Mill. Smilax spissa Killip & C.V.Morton Smilax spruceana A.DC. Smilax stans Maxim. Smilax stenophylla A.DC. Smilax subinermis C.Presl Smilax subpubescens A.DC. Smilax subsessiliflora Poir. Smilax synandra Gagnep. Smilax talbotiana A.DC. Smilax tamnoides L. – halberd-leaved greenbrier Smilax tetraptera Schltr Smilax timorensis A.DC. Smilax tomentosa Kunth Smilax trachypoda J.B.Norton Smilax trinervula Miq. Smilax tsinchengshanensis F.T.Wang Smilax tuberculata C.Presl Smilax turbans F.T.Wang & Tang Smilax utilis C.H.Wright Smilax vaginata Decne. Smilax vanchingshanensis (F.T.Wang & Tang) F.T.Wang & Tang Smilax velutina Killip & C.V.Morton Smilax verrucosa Griseb. Smilax verticalis Gagnep. Smilax vitiensis (Seem.) A.DC. Smilax wallichii Kunth Smilax walteri Pursh. Smilax wightii A.DC. Smilax williamsii Merr. Smilax yunnanensis S.C.Chen Smilax zeylanica L.
Distribution and habitat
The genus has a pantropical distribution, extending into adjacent temperate zones to north and south. 29 species are recognized in Central America and the Caribbean, while there are 20 species in North America north of Mexico.Raven & Zhengyi (2000), FNAEC (2002) In China, there are 80 species (39 of which are endemic).
Ecology
The berry is rubbery in texture and has a large, spherical seed in the center. The fruit stays intact through winter, when birds and other animals eat them to survive. The seeds are passed unharmed in the animal's droppings. Since many Smilax colonies are single clones that have spread by rhizomes, both sexes may not be present at a site, in which case no fruit is formed.
Smilax is a very damage-tolerant plant capable of growing back from its rhizomes after being cut down or burned down by fire. This, coupled with the fact that birds and other small animals spread the seeds over large areas, makes the plants very hard to get rid of. It grows best in moist woodlands with a soil pH between 5 and 6. The seeds have the greatest chance of germinating after being exposed to a freeze.